And They're Off!
29/04/07 22:02 Filed in: Election
2007
And so the
General Election campaign is underway. Yesterday,
as I made my way to Centra on Station Road to get
the paper, I noticed that Tom Parlon had had a
crack squad of poster erectors at work overnight.
Every lamp post on Canal Road had his poster, fore
and aft. As the election hadn't yet been called, I
was going to phone the Laois County Council Litter
Hotline on Monday morning to complain. Dang! Bertie
spoiled my fun.Wait! There's
More…
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The UnLaoised Groove Supply, Volume 8
28/04/07 22:20 Filed in: UnLaoised
Groove Supply
Better Late Than Never
25/04/07 22:17 Filed in: Blogging
If you
don't have Kav's Blog in your RSS reader,
then you're missing something special. This is a
guy who can make your sides split with laughter
one minute, and then the next smack you between
the eyes with something really personal and
poignant.
To give you a taste of his style, this is his account of the birth of his daughter. Having recently been through the experience myself, I almost pissed myself reading this.
Like the Swearing Lady, Kav is from Galway. Maybe it's something in the water. Does cryptosporidium foster great blogging talent, or something?
To give you a taste of his style, this is his account of the birth of his daughter. Having recently been through the experience myself, I almost pissed myself reading this.
Like the Swearing Lady, Kav is from Galway. Maybe it's something in the water. Does cryptosporidium foster great blogging talent, or something?
The UnLaoised Groove Supply, Volume 7
25/04/07 22:07 Filed in: UnLaoised
Groove Supply
When I was
living in England back in the late 80s and early
90s, I tried to keep in touch with the music scene
in Ireland as much as possible. I used to buy Hot
Press from a newsagent in Oxford Street, and bought
several albums based on their recommendations.
Cactus World News...hmmm...wonder whatever happened
to them…
Anyway, one Irish album from that era has remained with me is 'Speak Slowly' by The Stars of Heaven. These guys really had Next Big Thing potential, and John Peel was a fan. But sadly 'twas not to be.
This is "28", track one, side two from 'Speak Slowly' (for those of you old enough to remember vinyl.)
Anyway, one Irish album from that era has remained with me is 'Speak Slowly' by The Stars of Heaven. These guys really had Next Big Thing potential, and John Peel was a fan. But sadly 'twas not to be.
This is "28", track one, side two from 'Speak Slowly' (for those of you old enough to remember vinyl.)
The UnLaoised Groove Supply, Volume 6
22/04/07 23:16 Filed in: UnLaoised
Groove Supply
Just so's
that you don't think that I take this too seriously
- a bit of comedy this time.
Spinal Tap performing their paean to the larger lover - "Big Bottom"
"The looser the waistband, the deeper the quicksand, or so I have read…"
A bit of Tap trivia - Harry Shearer, who plays bass player Derek Smalls in the movie, is one of the main voiceover artists in The Simpsons, providing the voices of such characters as Montgomery Burns, Waylon Smithers, Ned Flanders, Rev Lovejoy, Dr Hibbert, Lenny, Principal Skinner, and others.
Spinal Tap performing their paean to the larger lover - "Big Bottom"
"The looser the waistband, the deeper the quicksand, or so I have read…"
A bit of Tap trivia - Harry Shearer, who plays bass player Derek Smalls in the movie, is one of the main voiceover artists in The Simpsons, providing the voices of such characters as Montgomery Burns, Waylon Smithers, Ned Flanders, Rev Lovejoy, Dr Hibbert, Lenny, Principal Skinner, and others.
Good Service
22/04/07 23:00 Filed in: Dadage
Last
Tuesday night, I
ranted about the poor service
I got from Amazon.co.uk - i.e. they would not
process my order of a baby's grobag at all.
I ended up ordering the grobag from a company in the UK called bumpto3.com. On Friday morning, the order arrived at my work address. Now that's what I call service!
bumpto3.com have a large range of products for parents of babies and toddlers and also for expectant parents. If you fit into either of those descriptions, the I recommend you have a look at what they have to offer.
This is not an affilliate link - I recommend bumpto3.com as a satisfied customer.
I ended up ordering the grobag from a company in the UK called bumpto3.com. On Friday morning, the order arrived at my work address. Now that's what I call service!
bumpto3.com have a large range of products for parents of babies and toddlers and also for expectant parents. If you fit into either of those descriptions, the I recommend you have a look at what they have to offer.
This is not an affilliate link - I recommend bumpto3.com as a satisfied customer.
The UnLaoised Groove Supply, Volume 5
18/04/07 22:41 Filed in: UnLaoised
Groove Supply
"Body's In
Trouble" by Mary Margaret O'Hara. The video is
showing its age, but not the song. Hard to believe
that her one and only album
came out
nearly twenty years ago. It remains one of my
all-time favourites. I saw her in concert in the
Prince of Wales Theatre in London around 1989.
Weird but awesome.
MMOH was the subject of some heated debate in the Bog O'Sphere last October after her controversial performance along with Gavin Friday at "Came So Far For Beauty" at The Point. "Fucking screeching zombie" was one description of her contribution to the pair's take of Leonard Cohen's "Hallelujah."
MMOH was the subject of some heated debate in the Bog O'Sphere last October after her controversial performance along with Gavin Friday at "Came So Far For Beauty" at The Point. "Fucking screeching zombie" was one description of her contribution to the pair's take of Leonard Cohen's "Hallelujah."
The UnLaoised Groove Supply, Volume 4
17/04/07 22:43 Filed in: UnLaoised
Groove Supply
An oldie,
but a goodie! The Band with The Staple Singers
performing "The Weight", from the Martin Scorsese
movie "The Last Waltz".
I only just noticed this, but the mix of this song on the DVD is different to the one on the soundtrack CD. Never mind, as it is, as Mavis Staples whispers at the end - "Beautiful!"
I only just noticed this, but the mix of this song on the DVD is different to the one on the soundtrack CD. Never mind, as it is, as Mavis Staples whispers at the end - "Beautiful!"
Have Amazon.co.uk Competely Given Up The Irish Market?
17/04/07 22:08 Filed in: Dadage
Last year,
I discovered that
amazon.co.uk had discontinued
despatch of electrical and electronic goods to
Ireland. The excuse given was that it could not
comply with Ireland's WEEE regulations, as the
UK had so far not implemented their own (and
still haven't.)
Anyways, the last couple of weeks we have been looking for a new grobag for the little 'un. A grobag is a bit like a cross between a sleeping bag and something a baby would wear in bed. They are a great idea, because babies have a tendency to kick their sheets and blankets off in the cot, and then wake up crying because they're cold. We want a light one for the summer, as the house is quite warm at night, even with no heating on, and her winter one is getting too warm now (and too small.) Mothercare didn't have any in stock, and the ones in Marks & Spencer were too heavy.
(Obligatory photo of Aoife, in her grobag)
I had seen them on Amazon and went to buy one this evening. "Sorry. This item is not available for shipping to the address you specified."
Why on earth not?? Ultimately, it's a piece of fabric, with a zip and a few push buttons. There is nothing electrical involved, and it weighs hardly anything. Why are Amazon turning away my order? So, I ended up doing a Google search for grobag, found their own site and bought from one of the resellers there, without any problem.
Anyways, the last couple of weeks we have been looking for a new grobag for the little 'un. A grobag is a bit like a cross between a sleeping bag and something a baby would wear in bed. They are a great idea, because babies have a tendency to kick their sheets and blankets off in the cot, and then wake up crying because they're cold. We want a light one for the summer, as the house is quite warm at night, even with no heating on, and her winter one is getting too warm now (and too small.) Mothercare didn't have any in stock, and the ones in Marks & Spencer were too heavy.
(Obligatory photo of Aoife, in her grobag)
I had seen them on Amazon and went to buy one this evening. "Sorry. This item is not available for shipping to the address you specified."
Why on earth not?? Ultimately, it's a piece of fabric, with a zip and a few push buttons. There is nothing electrical involved, and it weighs hardly anything. Why are Amazon turning away my order? So, I ended up doing a Google search for grobag, found their own site and bought from one of the resellers there, without any problem.
The UnLaoised Groove Supply, Volume 3
16/04/07 22:52 Filed in: UnLaoised
Groove Supply
The UnLaoised Groove Supply, Volume 2
13/04/07 22:53 Filed in: UnLaoised
Groove Supply
Cricket - Ireland Hockeyed
13/04/07 22:43 Filed in: Sport
It's just as well that Ireland batted first, because if Australia had gone in, they would have put, er, a cricket score on us.
Ireland's last hopes of earning a point or two in the Super Eight comes on Sunday, when they face Bangladesh. They finish up on Wednesday with their match against Sri Lanka.
Still no-one gave them a hope of getting as far as they did, and most of them are amateur club players. They have acquitted themselves well.
Local Politics Versus National Representation
13/04/07 22:21 Filed in: Politics
I was down
Wicklow way earlier today, and spotted several more
pre-election posters. The common theme running
through all of them was that the candidates/TDs
were "working for Wicklow." This goes back to the
old maxim about all politics being local, but it
also goes to the heart of the Irish electoral
system.
When we elect TDs to the Dáil, we are supposedly electing legislators who will act in the overall interest of the country (well, that's the theory anyway.) But of course that is not the practice. Politicians usually find their way to Kildare Street having been chosen by their local electorate on the basis of their positions on local issues, like schools, hospitals, etc. In some cases, a politician may feel obliged to put the interests of their local constituents over those of the country as a whole, even if they think privately that the national interest is more important.
Take for example two adjacent towns, in neighbouring constituencies, both of which have hospitals. The HSE may decide that all acute care be located in one hospital in order to allocate resources more efficiently. You can be damn sure that the constituency in which the hospital that "lost out" will not be happy about this, and will rely on their TDs to articulate that displeasure. Now even if those TDs took a dispassionate look at the situation and concluded that the decision taken was the correct one in the national interest, they might think twice about voicing that opinion. There might be an independent "hospital candidate" waiting in the long grass in the constituency, and the risk of losing their seat will help them make up their mind as to where they should stand on the issue.
This is why we have never been able to sort out such pressing issues as waste management and self-sufficiency in energy. Can you imagine any one of our current crop of TDs voting to have an incinerator or a nuclear power plant sited in their own constituency? We can't even debate these issues properly, because the local vested interests and the NIMBYs are the ones with the loudest voices.
So what can we do? Nothing really, short of a radical overhaul of how we elect our government. Until then we will always be at risk of having the national agenda scuppered by local politics.
When we elect TDs to the Dáil, we are supposedly electing legislators who will act in the overall interest of the country (well, that's the theory anyway.) But of course that is not the practice. Politicians usually find their way to Kildare Street having been chosen by their local electorate on the basis of their positions on local issues, like schools, hospitals, etc. In some cases, a politician may feel obliged to put the interests of their local constituents over those of the country as a whole, even if they think privately that the national interest is more important.
Take for example two adjacent towns, in neighbouring constituencies, both of which have hospitals. The HSE may decide that all acute care be located in one hospital in order to allocate resources more efficiently. You can be damn sure that the constituency in which the hospital that "lost out" will not be happy about this, and will rely on their TDs to articulate that displeasure. Now even if those TDs took a dispassionate look at the situation and concluded that the decision taken was the correct one in the national interest, they might think twice about voicing that opinion. There might be an independent "hospital candidate" waiting in the long grass in the constituency, and the risk of losing their seat will help them make up their mind as to where they should stand on the issue.
This is why we have never been able to sort out such pressing issues as waste management and self-sufficiency in energy. Can you imagine any one of our current crop of TDs voting to have an incinerator or a nuclear power plant sited in their own constituency? We can't even debate these issues properly, because the local vested interests and the NIMBYs are the ones with the loudest voices.
So what can we do? Nothing really, short of a radical overhaul of how we elect our government. Until then we will always be at risk of having the national agenda scuppered by local politics.
Cutie-Pie Photo Of The Day
11/04/07 23:57 Filed in: Dadage
The UnLaoised Groove Supply, Volume 1
11/04/07 23:19 Filed in: UnLaoised
Groove Supply
I've been
trawling through YouTube (or iTube as Ryan Tubridy
called it recently), and have been pleasantly
surprised to find a fair bit of music on it that I
like. So, I'm going to foist some of it on my loyal
readers (all three of you) and hope it doesn't
scare you all off.
First up is a track from The Minus Five called "The Town That Lost Its Groove Supply", which inspired this idea in the first place. The Minus Five is an irregular group made up of musicians from other bands, some well-known, others less so. The main man is Scott McCaughey, who also fronts a band called Young Fresh Fellows. The best known member is Peter Buck, he of REM fame. Jeff Tweedy of Wilco is also a frequent contributor, and M5's 2003 album was entitled Down With Wilco.
Take it away, boys.
First up is a track from The Minus Five called "The Town That Lost Its Groove Supply", which inspired this idea in the first place. The Minus Five is an irregular group made up of musicians from other bands, some well-known, others less so. The main man is Scott McCaughey, who also fronts a band called Young Fresh Fellows. The best known member is Peter Buck, he of REM fame. Jeff Tweedy of Wilco is also a frequent contributor, and M5's 2003 album was entitled Down With Wilco.
Take it away, boys.
Fuel Rip-Off
11/04/07 23:04 Filed in: General
Nonsense
Any
motorist will have noticed the prices of petrol and
diesel creeping up at the pumps in the last few
weeks. Not long ago, it was easy enough to find
petrol and diesel at under €1 per litre, but now
the average seems to be around the €1.10-€1.12
mark.
Today, I was driving down the south quays in Dublin, when I passed the Statoil garage on Usher's Quay. This is one of the few filling stations left in the city centre, and it's a wonder that its owners, Topaz Energy hasn't sold it off yet for development into apartment blocks. Whatever their plans for it, they are charging outrageous prices for fuel there.
The bastards are charging €1.449 for both petrol and diesel. What the fuck is so special about their fuel? Maybe it's single estate, first cold pressing extra virgin petrol or something.
Imagine that you have been stuck for hours in traffic, and the quarter tank that you expected to see you through the day is now in the red. You crawl along the quays, the fuel warning light flashing. You know the next nearest filling station is out beyond the canal and you may not make it that far. So you pull into the only filling station in sight and pay well over the odds for enough to get you to the next station. Now that, my friends, is a rip-off.
Today, I was driving down the south quays in Dublin, when I passed the Statoil garage on Usher's Quay. This is one of the few filling stations left in the city centre, and it's a wonder that its owners, Topaz Energy hasn't sold it off yet for development into apartment blocks. Whatever their plans for it, they are charging outrageous prices for fuel there.
The bastards are charging €1.449 for both petrol and diesel. What the fuck is so special about their fuel? Maybe it's single estate, first cold pressing extra virgin petrol or something.
Imagine that you have been stuck for hours in traffic, and the quarter tank that you expected to see you through the day is now in the red. You crawl along the quays, the fuel warning light flashing. You know the next nearest filling station is out beyond the canal and you may not make it that far. So you pull into the only filling station in sight and pay well over the odds for enough to get you to the next station. Now that, my friends, is a rip-off.
A Post About Posters
11/04/07 22:54 Filed in: Politics
I've been
doing a fair bit of travelling of late, and even
though the election has yet to be called, there are
political posters everywhere. Rather than the usual
mugshot attached to a lamp-post, these are proper
48-sheet billboard ads.
I'd imagine this is because the parties and individual candiates expected that the election would have been called by now and booked the spaces in advance. Still, it makes me shudder at what is to come, when every lamp-post and ESB pole will be festooned with election posters. I hate the bloody things. And they will be going up just as we enter the tourist season.
Bad Timing
10/04/07 23:35 Filed in: General
Nonsense
My mobile
is most likely to ring in any of the following
scenarios:
- When it been quiet for some time, and I make a call. Or if I answer the first call to come through in hours, another call comes in.
- When I'm about to introduce myself to a prospective client when on a speculative visit.
- When I'm in the jacks.
- When I'm negotiating a mad road junction like the Magic Roundabout in Cork.
- When I'm about to eat.
A few years back, when I was driving back to Dublin from Belfast, I decided to take the [ahem] scenic route down through South Armagh. I approached a joint RUC/British Army checkpoint on a lonely backroad, and as I lowered the window at the checkpoint, the phone rang.
Does this happen to other people? Other than Father Larry Duff, I mean.
- When it been quiet for some time, and I make a call. Or if I answer the first call to come through in hours, another call comes in.
- When I'm about to introduce myself to a prospective client when on a speculative visit.
- When I'm in the jacks.
- When I'm negotiating a mad road junction like the Magic Roundabout in Cork.
- When I'm about to eat.
A few years back, when I was driving back to Dublin from Belfast, I decided to take the [ahem] scenic route down through South Armagh. I approached a joint RUC/British Army checkpoint on a lonely backroad, and as I lowered the window at the checkpoint, the phone rang.
Does this happen to other people? Other than Father Larry Duff, I mean.
A Sad Day For Rugby
05/04/07 23:29 Filed in: Sport
It looks
like the Heineken Cup will be no more
after
this season.
Will we ever forget this day last May:
Will we ever forget this day last May:
Apple and EMI Take A Sledgehammer to DRM
02/04/07 22:30 Filed in: Music
Apple and
EMI have announced a deal
whereby
the music company's entire digital content will
be available for sale in best quality and
DRM-free from iTunes Stores from May.
My thoughts on the deal here
My thoughts on the deal here
The Lost Lie-In
01/04/07 22:59 Filed in: Dadage
Back in the
our pre-baby days, the missus and I were fond of
the weekend lie-in. Not having an alarm going off
at an ungodly hour on a Saturday and Sunday morning
was bliss. I even bought a super-duper alarm clock
that could be programmed to go off Monday to
Friday, but skip Saturday and Sunday, so that you
didn't have to reset it for the weekend.
But how all that has changed. Because we live out in the sticks now, we have to get up earlier. The weekday morning ritual in our house starts at 5.30, and by the time we have everyone sorted out, we're all out the door by 7.20 or so.
The little 'un is now used to the idea of getting up at around 6.30. Too used to it in fact. Unlike our super duper alarm clock, she can't be programmed to differentiate between a weekday morning and a weekend morning. Nor does she have a snooze button. So weekend lie-ins are now a thing of the past.
Last Saturday she slept on for the first time in ages, and didn't wake us till about 7.45. A year ago, waking up at 7.45 on a Saturday morning would have been considered the middle of the night. Now it's a lie-in.
And as I am writing about my daughter, I feel obliged to post a cute pic.
But how all that has changed. Because we live out in the sticks now, we have to get up earlier. The weekday morning ritual in our house starts at 5.30, and by the time we have everyone sorted out, we're all out the door by 7.20 or so.
The little 'un is now used to the idea of getting up at around 6.30. Too used to it in fact. Unlike our super duper alarm clock, she can't be programmed to differentiate between a weekday morning and a weekend morning. Nor does she have a snooze button. So weekend lie-ins are now a thing of the past.
Last Saturday she slept on for the first time in ages, and didn't wake us till about 7.45. A year ago, waking up at 7.45 on a Saturday morning would have been considered the middle of the night. Now it's a lie-in.
And as I am writing about my daughter, I feel obliged to post a cute pic.
Spring Has Sprung
01/04/07 22:56 Filed in: General
Nonsense
Media Manipulation, Sinn Féin Style
01/04/07 22:00 Filed in: Politics
The deal at
Stormont was done. The photo that was carried all
round the world said it all - Paisley and Adams,
formerly implacable enemies, were making peace.
Yesterday, The Irish
Times carried the expanded view of that photo. To
Paisley's right were his two main lieutenants,
Peter Robinson and Nigel Dodds, both of whom will
be ministers in the new Executive. But who was
alongside Adams? Martin McGuinness was there,
naturally enough, as he is to be the Deputy First
Minister. Gerry Kelly? Mitchel McLoughlin? Bairbre
de Brun?
Nope. Mary Lou
McDonald, that's who. And not only that, but she
was next to Adams. But she is not an MLA and will
take no part in the Executive. The elected office
she holds is MEP for Dublin.
Now Sinn Féin will say that her being there is
right and proper, as McDonald is Chairperson of the
party. And that it is a 32 county party, etc. But
of course this is all bullshit. The reason she is
in the photo is because she is standing for Sinn
Féin in Dublin Central in the forthcoming general
election, and Sinn Féin want to maximise her media
profile. They did the same in the run up to the
European elections in 2004. Whenever Gerry Adams
was making a statement to the media, Mary Lou was
by his side. Once she got elected, you didn't see
her so much anymore. But now, she's their great
hope for picking up a seat in Dublin, and so the
old tricks are coming out again.
You'd think that last Monday, being the historic
day that it was, that they might put the cynical
electioneering stunts to one side. But you'd be
forgetting that this is Sinn Féin, the party with
the sharpest political radar in Ireland.